Purple Martin barrier

[Wampuscat]

I’ve had enough of the annual Purple Martin poop-fest all over my patio. I found some bird netting and a few arrows that were past their prime and made a barrier. Now I just need to clean the crap off the walls and everything else.

[CabezaBlanca]

We had to hang an owl decoy under the patio. Works great!

[westtexducks]

Don't they eat mosquitos? Thought about getting one of those purple martins houses for them instead?

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[ClayW]

Purple martins or barn swallows?

[Aggie Dad]

Purple martins or barn swallows?

Kinda what I was thinking. We have several Purple Martins every year & have never see one around the house. Barn swallows on the other hand, build mud nest where the posts attach to the porch ceilings & they are NASTY!!! They sit on edge of nest & crap everywhere! Pretty birds but NASTY is an understatement!

[Wampuscat]

There are both martins and swallows. We have a Martin house that gets used but some prefer to sleep on the streets like Houston panhandlers.

[Outback]

Barn swallows nest under the eaves and are EXTREMELY persistent! Purple martins are picky and really like bird houses away from trees and cat proof.

[Smokeater]

Harassed our "mud martins"/swallows enough with a water hose and they finally quit coming back. Purples have always gone to their house!

[IkemanTX]

I’ve always fought to get rid of them, but I saw a video the other day of a rancher building structures specifically to attract them as fly control for his herds.
There were hundreds of them constantly flying above and through his cattle. It was pretty cool to see.
I can’t for the life of me find the video again.


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[Ouch]

I battle swallows every spring. I win every spring. If you get rid of the persistent one (or few), the rest kinda move along.

[E.TX.BOWHUNTER]

No swallows around my place but I do get several fly catchers. They build a neat nest under my porch but I don't mind them or the little mess they leave at times.

[Welding Teach]

So I saw something interesting the other day. People in Florida paint their deck ceilings a color of blue and keeps insects from building nest and birds.

Something to look into!

[FULL DRAW]

They love my entry way. Each year I go buy me a red balloon at HEB or Randall's and let it float up to the top. The random movement from the small breeze that comes in and the bright color keeps them away. Not able to be seen from the street and we do not notice it because it is 12ft up against the ceiling.

[Dusty Britches]

Barn Swallows - muddy birds. OP - They will build a nest on that netting because of the way you set it.

I stapled plastic grocery sacks in the areas they were building nests. Staple so that it blows in the wind. Every fall after they migrate out, I took the bags down. After 3 or 4 years, they stopped building at the house but still fly around to catch bugs.

I finally broke down and bought bird spikes to keep the butcher birds from building on my porch ledges.